Number Sense Activities

Hey friends! I wanted to take a moment to catch up what my firsts have been up to! Our curriculum is big on spiral review. We touch on number sense at the beginning of the year but really dive deep in Jan/Feb. Our math benchmark test ALWAYS hits on number sense, so I feel like my kids are ALWAYS doing number sense activities! 

We started working on Place Value right away. This is a skill we will continue to work on the rest of the school year. The kids loved making these little books! 

These little books are perfect for homework or center work! After I taught the kiddos how to use them, they were able to complete them independently! 

The Place Value books focus on expanded form, word form and recognizing numerals. Once we made a one together, my first graders were able to do these for morning work or during guided math.

This activity for a whole group lesson or a review! 

How Does Guided Math Look in My Classroom?

We typically do a whole group lesson on Monday with Guided Math the rest of the week. Our whole group lesson is based on the target skill that we are learning about. I use our pacing guide to determine which skill that is. I introduce the skill with a math read aloud. Then, our class creates an anchor chart over the skill. Sometimes I pre make the bones of the anchor chart but I make sure to fill in the meat of the skill with the students. This helps to reinforce the skill in their minds. They remember creating the anchor chart and will remember to look at it more often if they were apart of creating it. My favorite anchor chart to create with the students are the ones for telling time.

Using Math Centers During Guided Math

 I have four tables. Instead of the kiddos rotating, the baskets rotate. I pick a helper at the beginning of every two week period. The helpers are responsible for overlooking the baskets to make sure everything is in it's place. Then, the helpers rotate the baskets upon my command. This runs like a well oiled machine. The kids know EXACTLY what to do. I usually do two centers as the target skill of the week and two centers that are spiral review. That way the students are consistently practicing previous taught standards or skills.

The centers are a great way to prepare for our end of the year assessment because they cover skills taught all year long!

The students work with each math tub for 15-20 minutes a day..depending on my schedule that day. I plan all of my centers out for the week using my Guided Math Binder! 

I try to include as many hands on things as I can. However, sometimes, real world sets in. I use math word searches to minimize prep work. I use these as printable. I've also ran a set that is laminated and the kids use as wipe on/off mats. For differentiation, some students will use each word in a meaningful sentence. This can be challenging, but I encourage my students to try to demonstrate that they understand the meaning of each word.

This is how my math tubs look prior to rotating.  This is counting center where students have to correctly count the number of objects on the task card.

One of my kids favorite activities is Skip Counting Puzzles! I love using these puzzles because I can differentiate it really easily! All students appear to be doing the same activity, but I specifically plan out which students are doing which puzzles.
If you wanted to give printable skip counting puzzles a try, I thought you could try this freebie!

Just click HERE to get your FREEBIE!

The centers shown come from my  Number Sense BUNDLE! This bundle includes SO many activities to help get your kiddos ready for benchmarks or number sense assessments! I use these centers all throughout the year as a spiral review. It's great because they are low prep and  engaging! my students really enjoy these centers!